Separating apparatus.



(2. 0. HUPRECHT.

SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-23,1

' memwdl m. M, 1m.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- C. C. RUPRECHT.

SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31. 1917.

Pmmed Jan. M 19119.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lib

ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

names 0. nnrnnon'r, or nrrnwar, rnonnua.

SEPARATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 14;, 191%.,

Application filed March 31, 1917. Serial No. 158,783.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES C. RUrRnoHT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Midway, in the county of Gadsden and State of Florida, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Separating Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. v

This invention relates to apparatus for separating granular material into various grades, and it has for its objects the provision of apparatus of this character wherein the screen frafne is suspended, preferably upon springs, so as to operate with extreme ease, obviating the use of frictionally engag- .ter permitting of adjustment of either or both the periods of vibration of the screen and the intervals of efl'ectiveness of the actuating element whereby various degrees and timing of vibrations may be obtained; the provision of a separating apparatus affording easy removal and replacement of the screen frames, for the purpose of repair or the substitution of screen frames, without the need of disturbing any of the adjust-- mentsor parts of the apparatus; the provision of an apparatus of the aforesaid character having operating parts immune from injury or hindrance by the dust and grit in the presence of which the apparatus is required to operate; and the-provision of apparatus of the foregoing character wherein butvery few of the operating parts demand lubrication and attention. Y

A further object is to impart t0 the screen a movement conducive of the highest separating eiiiciency, such movement effecting a sequence of conditions wherein, first the screen is quiet and the material gravitates downward at a rate dependent upon the v ating ,means.

weight of material and degree of inclination of the screen; second, the screen is quickly Withdrawn from the material leaving it suspended in the air, the present movement of the screen terminating in a quick whip snap action causing the screen to be thrown lnto sharp vibration and resulting in its belng freed of material caught within its mesh; and third, the screen returns and is presented to the falling material at an angle expediting the passage of the particles of material of proper size through the screen.

A still further object is the'provision of means whereby the degree of inclination of the screen may be quickly and conveniently altered.

My invention further contemplates a cascade arrangement of a series of screens of Varying meshes, preferably all acting under the influence of the same actuating medium, the demand upon the actuating medium be-. ing apportioned so as to bemade practically continuous and even; the preferred embodiment utilizing electromagnetic -means for vibratingthe individual screens, all of such means receiving current from a common source, the flow of current being controlled byia contact device common to all and wherein the contacts are arranged to obviate flashing, and to obtain the aforesaid evenness of demand upon the current.

Embodiments of my invention wherein Y the above objects are attained, are illustrated in the drawings accompanying and l'forming apart hereof and wherein similar reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2' a side elevation of a single screen 'separatlng';

apparatus embodying my invention; 3 is a'section on the line 3-3 of Flg. 2; Fig.4:

is a perspective view of one of the screen suspension springs and its holder, and includes fragments of the screen and trough;

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are conventional illustra' tions of three successive steps or conditions 1n the screen action; and Flg. 8 1s a diagrammatic representatlon of a cascade arrangement of a series of screens, wlth their actu- Turni'ngfirst to the structural details of between the latter of which is pivoted, near their upper ends, one end of a trough 5, the opposite end of the trough being adjustably supported, through links 6, from the forward ends of the members 2. The upper ends of the links 6 are clamped to the trough by means, such as bolts 7, while thelower ends of the links are pivotallyv connected to the members 2, at 8.

A feed box 10, containing a screw conveyer 11, is supported by the upper ends of the members 3 in a position to discharge onto the upper end of the screen, the bottom of the feed box comprising a stationaryplate 12 and ahinged feedplate 13 the free edge of which is normally supported by the stops 14.

The screen frame is madeup of side members which are connected at their upper ends sist of a sheet of suitable cloth or' wire gauze and has its edges connected to the underneath surfaces of the frame in any approved manner. o

Spring saddles 20 are connected to the sides of the frame- 1 and are arranged to ride the upper ends of leaf springs 22 that are adjustably supported by holder's 23, said holders being in the form of blocks having vertical passage ways for the spring. The springs are clamped within the holders by wedges 24, and these wedges are in turn held in place by set-screws 25. While the stiffness of the springs may be altered within a limited range by the adjustment of the springs vertically within the holders without changing the elevation of the screen frame to any great extent, yet I 'may'include means of adjusting the tension of the springs which will haveno effect on the position of the screen, such means consisting of a plate. 27 which fits within the passage way of each spring holder along sidethe spring and has its upper end slidably connected to the spring by a plate 28. It is apparent that by sliding the plate 27 vertically within the holder the stiffness of the spring may be altered without affecting its relative position to the holder. The engaging parts of the spring saddles and springs are. shaped to afford practically a knife edge or line bearing between the saddles and springs, and are made of suflicient-hardness to effectually resist wear. The spring holders are shown as provided each with a threaded stud 30 whi h .the shaft 50 of an electric motor 51.

extends through an aperture 31 in the side of the trough 5 and has applied to it beyond such side a nut 32 for clamping the spring holder in any adjusted position to the side of the trough. This ad ustment is essential in that it allows the springs to be arranged vertically regardless of the inclination of the trough 5, so that the frame will swing with equal case each side of its center of vibration. Any required number of springs may be employed on each side of the apparatus, depending upon the size and weight of the screen frame and material to be treated, two being shown on each side of the apparatus herein disclosed.

An electromagnet 35 is shown as located on each side of the apparatus, the same being carried by an arm 36 which is pivoted "at 37 to the side of the trough 5, the pivotal connection being of such nature as to allow the magnet to be secured in various adjusted positions. An armature 40 is supported in operative relation to the face of each magnet from the adjacent side of the screen frame, theconnection between the armature and frame allowing an adjustment to compensate for the adjustment of the magnet.

The electromagnets 35 may receivecurrent from any suitable source, and unless the eurrent is alternating and of a frequency which will result in the desired timing of the vibrations of the'screen (as the magnets attract and release their armatures) or such as to produce pulsations substantially in step With the synchronism of the screen supporting springs, the current must be intermittently interrupted for the attainment of these desired ends by a suitable contact device or flasher. Such a device is herein illustrated conventionally as a rotor 42 having one or more contact points 43 that are engaged by a brush 44 through which current is led from one side of the circuit, represented by the wire 45, through the conductiveportion of the rotor to a brush 46 and wire 47 to one end of the windings of the electromagnets, the opposite ends of the windings having connection to the opposite side of the circuit represented by the wire 48. The rotor is shown as mounted upon A switch 52 is included in the circuit for opening the circuit at any time it is desired to stop the operation of the apparatus, and variable resistance 53 may also be included in the circuit for changing the strength of' currentso as to vary the violence of vibration of the screen, such an adjustment being advantageous in handling materials of various weights.

A controller or rheostat 54 may be included in the motor circuit to change the speed of the motor, and consequently that of the rotor, so that the frequency of the current interruptions may be varied at will.

To restrict the vibrations of the-screen to a well defined limit, when such is desired, ll

employ adjustable stops 55, carried by a bracket 56, one of which is shown as adjustably connected at 57 to each side of the trough and a finger 58, similarly connected to the adjacent side of the screen 7 frame, extends downward between the stops for engagement therewith.

Adjustable tappets 60 are supported,

through brackets 61, from the upper end member 16 of the screen frame in a position to strike the free edge portion of the feed plate 13 when the frame is vibrated, thereby to insure constant feeding of material while the apparatus is operating. D

The screened material caught by the trough 5 is delivered to a hopper 65 from where it is conveyed through a chute 66 to a suitable bin or storage, and the tailings discharged from the lower end of the screen .finesor those. particles which are small enough to pass through the mesh of the screen-are so intermixed with the coarser particles that but few of them come in contact with the screen and pass through. When the magnets are energized the screen is suddenly drawn away from the'material in a substantially horizontal direction, leaving All the material in the air, the particles thereof dropping according to weight and "inertia;-

Now that the screen surface is free of material, and the'travel of the screen in its pres-' ent direction of movement is suddenly arrested either by the engagement of the fingers 58 with the appropriate stops 55,01 theengagement of the armatures 4:0 with the magnets, the suddenness of the stopping throws 'thescreen into sharp vibration resulting in its being entirely freed of any material which may have been caught within its mesh, and rendering it clean to receive its subsequent shower of material. Upon the denergiz'ation of the magnets,'the screen is allowed to move in the opposite direction at an angle to the falling material, the particles of which have become separated and loosened during their brief suspension in the.air, and the openings of thescreen are presented to the particles of material at an angle afl'ording the best possible chance. for the sufficiently small particles to pass through the screen. At the extreme end of the present movement of the screen the stop is less abrupt than before, due to the wish-- ioning efiect of the springs and the fact that the screen is merely passive, wherefore only a comparatively light shock is imparted to the screen which seryes to free it of any lightly held material.

lBy timing the frequency of the current impulses with respect to the spring strengths and adjustments and the weights of material and inertia of the screen frame, a, synchronism can be securedthat will give perfect results for-any particular sort of ma terial.

Almost any degree of movement, and rapidity of vibration can be obtained by adjusting the stops and increasing or decreasing the frequency of the currentpulsations; and the importance of such a range of adjustment will be better appreciated and it is said that some materials separate best at low rates of vibration, while others respond with efiiciency only to very rapid short strokes. Also very gentle or very powerful action can be obtained through the variations in the strength of current attainable through the variable resistance above referred to.

In cases where it is desired to separate the material into various grades, ll provide an installation diagrammatically illustrated in Fig, 8 where a series of screens are arranged to successively receive the material, the first screen being of a mesh to permit the passage of the coarsest material to be graded, the remainder being recovered for regrinding. This first screen is known as the scalping screen and the material which passes through it is conducted by a trough to the upper end of a screen'having the finest mesh of any within the series. Thus the finest grade of material is selected by this screen. The tailings from this second screen are discharged upon the next coarser screen, and the second grade of material passes through this screen, while its tailings are discharged upon. a still coarser screen through which the third grade of material passes, etc.

Referring more specifically to the diagram by the use of reference characters, 1 represents the upper or scalping screen, and 5 the trough which receives its products and discharges them upon the finest screen '1", the next coarser screen being represented by 1 and the, next by 1. A conveyer trough receives the tailings from the first or scalping screen and discharges them into a chute 71 which conducts the material back to a place for regrinding. The other successive screens of the series drop their material into.

bin 72 will receive material known as 90 sented by the battery 80, andithe circuits involving the various magnets are controlled by a contact device represented by the drum 81 that is driven by motor 82. The drum is shown as of conductive material with inserts 83 of insulating material 'over which brushes 84 ride. A brush 85, constituting the terminal of the 'wire 86 from the battery, maintains ,permanent contact with the conductive portion of the drum 81. The inserts are so arranged that the circuit is never completely interrupted, thus obviating flashing at the contactpoints of the brushes, and so as to, make the demand upon the current practically continuous.

In a practical installation of the apparatus, the motor and contact device may be located at some point remote from the screens and properlyhoused to protect them from the dust and di rt prevalent inthe vicinity The switches 88, however,-

of the screens. are located within easy reachof the screen attendants so that any one ormore of the screens may be stopped at will.

The easy removability of the individual screens is deemed highly desirable, for it greatly facilitates" repairand, I if desired, substitute screens may be kept on hand to replace any withdrawn from service for the purpose of repair, the suspension means for the screen frames being so simple as to readily permit of such interchangeability.

While I have shown a magnet located on each side of thefscreen; it .will' be understood that this arrangement need not be adhered to. If the work is sufficiently light, one magnet located on one side of the apparatus would'be ample to obtain a comparatively even pull on the screen frame; or the magnet and armature might be located at any other convenlent part of the apparatus for obtaining an even pull, such an expedient being so obvious that specific illustration is' deemed unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I cla m is 1- 1 r 1. .In apparatus of the character set forth,-

the combination of'a spring holderthaving a passageway, a leaf spring, a spring stiffener,

- a wedge for'securin'g portions of the spring of the holder,

and spring stiffener withinthe' passageway and a screen supported by the spring. r g j 2. In apparatus 'of-thecharacter set forth, the combination ofa spring holder havinga passageway, a leaf spring, a spring stifi'ener,

a wedge for securing portions of the spring and spring stifiener within the passageway of the holder, retaining means for the wedge,

said source and the electromagnets, and a contact device for opening and closing the various circuits alternately whereby a comparatively even flow of current is obtained.

4.. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a supportingstructure havinga receiving surface, a sub-structure wherebythe supporting structure is adapted to be sustained at various angles, resilient screen'supporting elements adjustably carried by the supporting structure so as to be substantially vertically disposed when the supporting structure is in any of its positions, and a screen having bearing members resting upon the screen supporting elements. 5. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a supporting structure, a substructure-wherein the supporting structire is adapted to be sustained in various inclined positions, resilient screensupporting elements carried by the supporting structure and adjustable with respect thereto so that supporting structure.

6. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of spring holders each having a vertically disposed passageway, a leafspring adjustable within the passageway, a spring stifi'ener adjustable within the passageway andslidably connected at its'upper end with the spring, means for securing the spring and spring stifi'enerat any adjusted I position within the holder, and a screen having bearing members arranged to rest upon the springs.

'7. In apparatus" of the character set forth, the combination of a supporting structure, a

' sub-structure wherein the supporting struc ture is adapted to be sustained at varying de grees of inclination, screen supporting ele- -ments adjustably carried by the supporting .structure and adapted to be substantially vertically disposed at all times, a screen having bearing members resting upon the supporting elements, the supporting elements yielding to a vibratory movement of the In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my sbcreen, an electromagnet adjustaoly carried signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

y the supporting structure, an an armature disposed in operative relation thereto CHARLES RUPRECHT' 5 and carried by the screen, the armature be- Witnesses:

ing adjustable to compensate for the adjust- BETTIE V. HERIRING, ment of the magnet. R. A. SHIM. 

